Electron–electron interactions in cathode objective lenses

The impact of electron–electron interactions on the electron-optical performance of imaging cathode objective lenses is evaluated.Three types of cathode objectives are considered: decelerating and accelerating electrostatic, and combined magnetic lenses.The beam blur is calculated for field sizes ranging from 50 μm×50 μm to 500 μm×500 μm and total beam currents ranging from 200 nA to 20 μA.The functional dependence of the beam blur upon electron beam current and current density is elucidated in detail.